One can understand if the disciples feel a combination of confusion and anger. They have just reached a high point in their relation with Jesus (in yesterday's Gospel) when, through Peter, they acknowledge that he is the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed King of Israel sent to save his people. Just as they come to terms with that, they are told that Jesus the Messiah will be rejected by the leaders of their people and be put to death. When Peter naturally objects, he is called Satan. And, if that was not enough, today Jesus tells them that if anyone - they or anyone else - wants to be His follower, they will have to carry their own cross. Not only that, only those willing to lose their life for sake of Jesus and His Gospel will find life. What advantage then is there in gaining everything the world has to offer only to lose one's life at the end? Yet so many seem to think that wealth and what it brings is everything, even though we see that belief shattered again and again. Who was happier than Jesus who had nothing of his own? He lived his life giving, not getting. And many saints followed his Way.